This, That, and T'other: Jason’s Graduation

I am finally getting around to posting our pictures of Jason’s graduation from Liberty University.

When we got to Lynchburg, the first stop was registration. Basically, the graduates checked in and could gather information. There were various activities, giveaways, etc., and it was a fun time to learn more about Liberty.

After check-in, we were able to meet my cousin Rachel and her family for lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant together and LOVED getting to spend time with her and meet her husband and little boy.

Please pardon the poor quality of this picture. It was from a photo booth at the reception.

That afternoon, there was a reception for the graduates. It was held in the stadium and there were all kinds of free food (cotton candy, donuts, cake, soda, kettle corn, etc.) and gifts. The chancellor gave a speech and the graduates could meet him and have their pictures taken with him and his wife. We were super impressed with the friendliness of the student workers and all the Liberty employees that we met.

That evening we headed to baccalaureate where we got to see Ravi Zacharias receive his honorary degree from Liberty.

And then we got to hear him speak. He spoke about Daniel in such a talented way. He is one of those few speakers that I never tire of hearing.

The next morning we had to be at Liberty at 7:30 for the graduates to line up. Traffic was so bad (There were at least 30,000 people at the graduation that day.) that Jason hopped out of the car near the cross walk and walked all the way across campus and was still where he was supposed to be a half hour before I was parked! I sat in traffic, and finally parked around 8:30. By the time I got to the stadium, there was very little seating left even though commencement didn’t start until 10.

Because there were so many graduates marching (About 7,500 of the 15,000 that graduated were at commencement.) The processional started at 8:45.

Liberty is proud to be a military friendly school, and one of the neat parts of the processional was the many servicemen and women that were in dress uniform.

The processional took more than an hour even though the graduates were entering several at a time from both sides of the stadium.

Finally, I got to see my graduate! I was super thankful for a good camera lens, because without it, I would not have been able to spot him, let alone take pictures!

This picture will give you a little idea of both where I sat, and the magnitude of both the crowd and the graduates! The whole center section was graduates.

Shannon Bream (a Fox news reporter and graduate of Liberty) was the commencement speaker. She did a fantastic job as she spoke about being strong and holding to values.

Jason, in the middle of a sea of graduates. Because of the number of graduates, degrees were not granted at commencement but at other ceremonies in various locations around campus later.

I don’t think that I have ever seen Jason so happy (except on our wedding day) or so willing to let me take photos of him, so I took full advantage.

Then came time for the degree granting. Jason was part of a ceremony of 600 masters and doctorate degrees through Liberty’s Baptist Theological Seminary. (Again, it was a very long ceremony!)